As of the end of 2009, Vettel holds numerous Formula One records, mostly for being the youngest driver to achieve a certain feat. By taking part in Friday practice for the 2006 Turkish Grand Prix, Vettel became the youngest Formula One driver to drive at a Grand Prix meeting, at 19 years and 53 days. He went on to become the sixth youngest driver to start a Grand Prix and the youngest driver to score points in a Grand Prix. On Sunday September 30, 2007, during the Japanese Grand Prix Vettel became the youngest driver to lead a Formula One race. During qualifying for the 2008 Italian Grand Prix, Vettel became the youngest Formula One driver to secure pole position.[1] He went on to win the race, making him the youngest F1 race winner by nearly a year.[2] Vettel is also the youngest driver to achieve maiden victories for two different teams, and became the youngest Formula One World Drivers' Championship Runner-up in history.

Early and personal life

Vettel was born in West Germany in July 1987. Vettel suggested in an interview that he was terrible at school; he also mentioned that his childhood heroes were the "The three Michaels", who were Michael Schumacher, Michael Jackson and Michael Jordan. He stated that he wanted to be a singer like Michael Jackson but realised that he couldn't as he didn't have the voice.[3]

Vettel finished as runner-up in the 2006 F3 Euroseries, behind series leader and team mate Paul di Resta. He also made his debut in the World Series by Renault at Misano, winning after Pastor Maldonado was disqualified.[4] However, at the next round at Spa-Francorchamps, his finger was almost sliced off by flying débris in an accident, and he was expected to be out of racing for several weeks.[5] However, he managed to compete in the Ultimate Masters of F3 at Zandvoort the following weekend, finishing in sixth place. He also set third fastest lap time, and it surprised his ASM team boss Frédéric Vasseur. Vasseur said: "I was impressed for sure, because at the beginning of the week I was sure he wouldn't race! But he showed good pace from the first practice session. I can't imagine he's 100 per cent but at least we know we can be competitive in the next F3 Euroseries round at the Nürburgring next weekend - that's important." [6]

2006-2007: BMW Sauber

Vettel impressed on his testing debut by setting fastest time in second Friday Free Practice before the race.[8] The young German also impressed on his second testing session in the 2006 Italian Grand Prix, setting the fastest time in both Friday practice sessions, a race weekend in which all the BMW cars were quick, with his predecessor Robert Kubica finishing on the podium in the race.

He was confirmed as BMW's test driver for 2007.[9] Following the serious crash of regular BMW driver Robert Kubica at the Canadian Grand Prix, Vettel substituted for him at the US Grand Prix and started in seventh position on the grid,[10] finishing in eighth position, thanks to Nico Rosberg's late retirement, to take his first F1 World Championship point and became the youngest driver ever to score a point in Formula One (at the age of 19 years and 349 days), a record previously held by Jenson Button – who was 20 years and 67 days old when he finished sixth at the 2000 Brazilian Grand Prix.[11]

Vettel struggled to keep up with Liuzzi's pace at Budapest, Istanbul, Monza and Spa, and never managed to progress amongst the lower-midfield pack (Toyota, Honda, Toro Rosso, Super Aguri). In the rain-hit Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji, Vettel worked his way up to third behind Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber, and seemed to be on course for not only his but also Toro Rosso's maiden podium finish. However, Vettel crashed into Webber under safety car conditions taking them both out of the race and prompting Webber to say to ITV reporter Louise Goodman “It’s kids isn’t it... kids with not enough experience – they do a good job and then they fuck it all up.” He was initially punished with a ten-place grid penalty for the following race, but this was lifted after a spectator video on YouTube showed the incident may have been caused by Hamilton's behaviour behind the safety car, which Hamilton was also cleared of.[16]

However, Vettel bounced back to finish a career-best fourth a week later at the Chinese GP having started 17th in mixed conditions. He collected five championship points, making it both his and Toro Rosso's best race result.[17]

Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz believes Vettel will be one of Formula One's big stars in the future. "Vettel is one of the young guys with extraordinary potential [...] He is fast, he is intelligent, and he is very interested in the technical side."[18]

2008

After four races of the 2008 Formula One season Vettel was the only driver to have failed to finish a single race, having retired on the first lap in three of them. In each of these three instances, he was involved in accidents caused by other drivers. However, at the fifth round at the Turkish Grand Prix, he finally saw the chequered flag, finishing 17th after qualifying 14th. In the next race at the Monaco Grand Prix, Vettel scored his first points of the 2008 Season with a fifth place finish, mainly due to the changing conditions. Vettel also benefitted from the downfall of other drivers, such as Adrian Sutil and Heikki Kovalainen. Vettel scored again at the Canadian Grand Prix after starting from the pit lane and having to fight off Heikki Kovalainen in the last few laps for the final championship point. Vettel finished 12th in the French Grand Prix after passing Hamilton at the start. Vettel retired on the first lap of the British Grand Prix after being clipped by David Coulthard and aquaplaning into the gravel trap along with the Red Bull driver. He then bounced back from this by finishing eighth at the German Grand Prix by fending off Fernando Alonso and securing the last championship point after Jarno Trulli went off the track. Vettel then became the first retirement of the Hungarian Grand Prix after his engine overheated during his first pit stop. Vettel impressed many at the European Grand Prix by setting the fastest time in the first practice session and fastest time in the second qualifying session, which was also the fastest overall time in qualifying. He qualified 6th on the grid, and finished 6th, 2 seconds behind Jarno Trulli.

At the 2008 Italian Grand Prix, Vettel became the youngest driver in history to win a Formula One Grand Prix.[19] Aged 21 years and 74 days, Vettel broke the record set by Alonso at the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix by 317 days as he won in wet conditions at Monza.[20] Vettel led for the majority of the Grand Prix and crossed the finish line 12.5 seconds ahead of McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen.[21] Earlier in the weekend, he had already become the youngest polesitter, after setting the fastest times in both Q2 and Q3 qualifying stages,[22] and his win also gave him the record of youngest podium-finisher. Toro Rosso team boss Gerhard Berger said, "As he proved today, he can win races, but he's going to win world championships. He's a cool guy".[23] Hamilton praised the German, stating that this victory showed "how good he is".[23] The nature of the victory and the story of the 21 year old's fledgling career led the German media to dub him "baby Schumi", although Vettel was quick to downplay the expectation the result has brought, particularly the comparison with the seven-time World Champion: "To compare me with Michael Schumacher is just a bit ridiculous...It will be difficult in normal conditions for us to repeat this achievement".[24] He then went on to finish fifth at the Singapore Grand Prix and sixth at the Japanese Grand Prix.

In the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix, after running second for much of the race, Vettel overtook Lewis Hamilton in the rain for fifth place on the penultimate lap to contribute to a thrilling climax to the season. He nearly deprived the McLaren driver of the championship before Timo Glock slowed dramatically on the last lap (he was struggling with dry tyres in the ever increasing rain) enabling both Vettel and Hamilton to pass him, earning the Briton the title.

Red Bull Racing

2009

Vettel began strongly at the Australian Grand Prix, qualifying third and running in second for the majority of the race. However, a clash with Robert Kubica over second place on the third last lap of the race forced both to retire. Vettel attempted to finish the race on three wheels behind the safety car to salvage some points, but eventually pulled off to the side. He thought that he would be able to attempt this because the yellow flag resulting from his incident forbids overtaking; instead he was given a ten-place grid penalty for the next race, the Malaysian Grand Prix, and his team was fined for instructing him to stay on track after the damage occurred.[25] In Malaysia he qualified in third position, but was demoted down to 13th due to his ten-place grid drop. He spun out of the race while eighth, just before the race was stopped due to adverse weather conditions.[26] However in China he went on to take pole position, the first for the Red Bull Racing team. He went on to win the race ahead of team-mate Mark Webber, again a first for his team, which scored its first victory and one-two finish in the same race[27].

At the European Grand Prix he qualified fourth but had to retire from the race with an engine failure. It was second engine failure for Vettel during the weekend.[31] He finished third at the Belgian Grand Prix, and struggled for pace at Monza, finishing 8th at a race he previously won. He qualified 2nd at Singapore, but was given a drive-though penalty for speeding in the pit lane and damaged the diffuser on a kerb, struggling to 4th. He subsequently won the Japanese Grand Prix from pole position. During the Brazilian Grand Prix at São Paulo, Vettel was knocked out of a completely drenched qualifying after finishing in 16th place.

At the 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix Vettel qualified 16th behind title rival Jenson Button (14th) and Rubens Barrichello (1st) his team-mate Mark Webber qualified 2nd with Adrian Sutil for Force India qualified 3rd. Vettel needed to score at least 2nd place this race to keep his title hopes alive. He finished 4th with Button finishing 5th giving Button the Championship and moving Vettel up into 2nd place. He officially claimed 2nd place by winning the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, again ahead of teammate Webber with Button completing the podium. By Button not winning the last race, Sebastian Vettel became the only driver to win races in both the first and the second half of the 2009 season. At the race, he also scored his third fastest lap of the year, drawing him level with team-mate Webber. However, as Vettel had more second fastest laps, he won the 2009 DHL Fastest Lap Award.[32]

2010

Vettel continues with Red Bull for 2010, and took the first pole position of the season at the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix. Vettel went on to lead the race but a spark-plug failure meant that his lap times slowed down, and as a result the two Ferraris and the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton passed him. After a brief challenge from Rosberg he brought the car home in fourth.

Future

On 21 August 2009 it was announced Red Bull and Vettel have extended his contract until the end of the 2011 season.[33]

Race of Champions

Vettel competed in the 2007 Race of Champions, representing the German team alongside Michael Schumacher.[34] Vettel and Schumacher won the Nation's Cup Title, after exciting finals. Vettel had to beat two RoC champions, Heikki Kovalainen and Marcus Grönholm, after Schumacher stalled his car. Vettel lost the individual competition however, in first heat, in his second battle against Kovalainen. Vettel also competed in the 2008 Race of Champions, alongside Michael Schumacher. Once again they won the Nation's Cup Title after a close final against Scandinavia. In the Driver's Cup, Vettel beat Troy Bayliss in Round One, but lost to Sebastien Loeb in the Quarter-Finals. Again Vettel teamed up with Michael Schumacher for the 2009 RoC Nations Cup, which they went on to win in a run-off against the Great Britain team of Jenson Button and Andy Priaulx.

Helmet design

Vettel's helmet, like most of Red Bull's drivers, is heavily influenced by the energy drink company logo. Apart from minor changes and sponsorship differences, it has rarely changed over the years since he has been backed by Red Bull.

New to Vettel's helmet since the start of 2008 has been the incorporation of the Kreis BergstraßeCoat of Arms on the front, just underneath the visor.